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I had the pleasure of photographing the Boyack family at the end of November at the Utah State Capitol. They chose the capitol for a variety of reasons. Son Connor Boyack - whose headshots I took a while back - founded non-profit Libertas Institute in 2011 and serves as its president. Mom Merrilee Boyack is executive director of Family Watch International, which works to protect, support, and promote families through education, humanitarian aid, and much more. So it made sense to photograph this politically-involved family at our state's capitol - and to top it off, it's a location with great outdoor light! 
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 Extended family sessions are something I shoot fairly regularly, and I LOVE them!
A lot of photographers shy away from big family photo sessions for a few reasons: 1) They can be chaotic and unless you're comfortable directing large groups, they can get out of hand quickly. 2) The post-processing work is usually quite a bit more than a photo session of a single family, requiring a lot more headswaps, etc. 3) They require a completely different set of posing/directing skills than other shoots. As one of Utah's best extended family photographers, I frequently have other photographers refer their extended family sessions out to me because I enjoy doing it and do it well. I've taken multi-generational photos for families of 10 all the way up to 70+ people! When you hire Flying Gull Photography to take your extended family photos, you get a photographer who 1) Can make a session go quickly, by taking charge, but making it fun, too! 2) Has a bag of tricks to get everyone looking and smiling, but also is a pro at head swaps, and 3) Can quickly and fluidly change between poses and groupings to give you an amazing number and variety of beautiful, professionally retouched photos. Photographing the Strong family was such a dream. Heather is mom to 3 handsome, dirtbike-riding boys, and her husband, Shawn, was such a good sport about taking photos. They live just down the highway out here in Eagle Mountain from me, and they were wearing the cutest custom shirts Heather made for them. Check them out in the photos! Heather wanted photos done that showed off this beautiful area we live in. We got lucky with the best light and had so much fun exploring this quiet, pretty canyon near us. I don't get too many chances to practice being an Eagle Mountain family photographer, and this was the perfect experience!  I decided to hold this year's fall mini sessions at Highland Glen Park in Highland, Utah. While it's a popular location for family photos and other session types, I like to utilize the less well-known paths and spots that you can find if you do a little extra exploring - there are little trails that run all around the borders of the park that offer gorgeous light and beautiful scenery. I had the best time photographing several little families and couples during these back-to-back minis, which I only offer a couple times a year, and we got lucky with the most beautiful golden light and blazing autumn colors!  Callie contacted me about getting photos of her baby boy done as soon as possible since he was already 6 weeks and changing so fast – you know how newborns do that. She wanted bright, light-filled photos, and so we went to one of my favorite studios, Life + Style in Draper.  I loved meeting James and Brenna and their sweet just-turned-1-year-old June up Provo Canyon near Sundance for this quick little fall mini family photo session. You may recognize James from “Studio C,” the BYU TV comedy show. He’s pretty famous and pretty funny, but then you meet Brenna and realize she’s just as hilarious and oh so wonderful and warm and friendly. Also, she's a great writer - I stalk her blog. We had a great time playing in the leaves and convincing thoughtful, contemplative June to smile for us :)  |
